Anniversary team loaded with Super Bowl players
The Buffalo Bills' Super Bowl era of the early '90s is considered the franchise's finest, so it wasn't surprising when the 50th anniversary team was unveiled Saturday, it was filled with players from that period.
Hall of Famers Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas and Bruce Smith headline the anniversary team which was announced Saturday afternoon at Ralph Wilson Stadium. The fans picked the 26 members of the team.
"There were so many great players and coaches in the organization," said Steve Tasker. "This is a great honor."
Joining Kelly and Thomas on the offense were wide receivers Andre Reed, Eric Moulds and James Lofton, tight end Pete Metzelaars, and offensive linemen Joe DeLamielleure, Kent Hull, Billy Shaw, Ruben Brown and Jim Ritcher.
The defensive players chosen in a 3-4 scheme were Smith, Fred Smerlas and Tom Sestak on the line, Darryl Talley, Mike Stratton, Cornelius Bennett and Shane Conlan at linebacker, Butch Byrd and Nate Odomes at corner and safeties George Saimes and Henry Jones.
The special teams players were kicker Steve Christie, punter Brian Moorman and special team ace Tasker. Hall of Famer Marv Levy was voted in as the coach. Moorman was the only current Bills player to be selected to the team.
"I'm surprised there are a lot of guys I played with on the team, there's a good mixture of old and new," Brown said. "It's a lot of great Bills and the Bills have a tradition of truly great players."
The players were chosen from a list of nominees that were selected by the Bills Wall of Fame Committee this past January. Players nominated to the list by the WOF Committee had to have played for the Bills for at least four seasons or have been a member of the Bills 25th Anniversary Team.
Hall of Fame running back O.J. Simpson, who is currently serving a 15-year prison sentence for charges of kidnapping and armed robbery, was not voted to the team.
"This is something I am truly honored to be a part of," said Kelly in a statement released by the team. "I'm honored to have played with some great players and to have played for a great coach in Marv Levy. I just look at all the guys who helped me do it including Kent Hull, especially Kent Hull at center. He really helped me get to where I am."
The Bills legends were voted to the Bills 50th Season All-Time Team by fans during an interactive fan voting process that took place between Feb. 19 and April 19. Nearly 500,000 votes were tabulated through online voting through the Bills Web site and mail-in balloting.
The team:
OFFENSE:
QB Jim Kelly
RB Thurman Thomas
WR Andre Reed, Eric Moulds, James Lofton
TE Pete Metzelaars
OL Billy Shaw, Joe DeLamielleure, Ruben Brown, Kent Hull, Jim Ritcher
K Steve Christie
DEFENSE:
DL Bruce Smith, Tom Sestak, Fred Smerlas
LB Darryl Talley, Cornelius Bennett, Mike Stratton, Shane Conlan
DB Butch Byrd, Nate Odomes, George Saimes, Henry Jones
P Brian Moorman
ST Steve Tasker
Coach Marv Levy
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